The six hostages released this Saturday are the last living to be given to Israel as part of the first phase of the ceasefire between the Hebrew state and the Islamist group Hamas.
Hamas has given Israel all six Israeli hostages that were to be released on Saturday, while increased tensions between opponents darkens the future of the fragile ceasefire agreement.
Among these five hostages released first are three captured Israelis as they attended the Nova music festival and another kidnapped while visiting his family in southern Israel when activists stormed the border During the attacks of October 7, 2023 which sparked the Israeli campaign of nearly 16
The sixth and last Israeli hostage having to be released on Saturday, Hicham al-Sayed, was given by the Red Cross to the Israeli army and A “Crosy the border to Israeli territory”announced the army on Telegram.
Hicham al-Sayed, as well as one of the first 5, was retained by Hamas For almost ten years. The Israeli army had specified that Hamas would not organize a staging of the liberation of this Muslim Bedouin of 37 -year -old Israeli nationality, contrary to what happened for the others.
The first five to be released were handed over to the Red Cross during two separate ceremonies in Gaza, presented on scenes by fighters from masked Hamas and armed in front of hundreds of Palestinians. In the central city of Weseirat, Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov and Eliya Cohen posed alongside the combatants – and a radiant shem tov even kissed the activist on his head who was next to him and blown up kisses at the crowd. They were then placed in vehicles of the Red Cross and taken to Israeli troops.
Looking at the liberation, the family and friends of Cohen in Israel chanted “Eliya!” Eliya! Eliya! And applauded when they saw it for the first time. Shem Tov’s grandmother cried out, exclaiming: “Omer, my joy!” My life! By seeing it.
These last releases, which will be followed by those of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israeltake place after tensions were mounted following a macabre and tearing dispute, launched this week when Hamas initially handed the body which was not that of Shiri Bibas, Israeli mother of two young boys kidnapped by activists.
The remains that Hamas transferred with the bodies of its sons on Thursday were then determined as those of an unidentified Palestinian woman. In response, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to take revenge on a “cruel and malicious violation”, while Hamas suggested that it was an error.
Friday evening, the small militant group who would have detained Bibas and his sons – the brigades of Palestinian mujahideen – gave a second body. The Bibas family said that the Israeli medical authorities confirmed that it was his body.
“For 16 months, we looked for certainty, and now that she is there, she does not bring any comfort, although we hoped that she marks the start of the closure,” said the family.
Difficult negotiations are to be expected for the next phase of the ceasefire
The cease-fire agreement made it possible to interrupt the war, but its first phase is coming to an end. THE Negotiations on the second phaseduring which Hamas would release dozens of additional hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal, may be even more difficult.
The six hostages released on Saturday are the last living to be as part of the first phase.
Cohen, Shem Tov and Wenkert, all aged in his twenties, had been kidnapped by Hamas fighters during the Nova music festival. During their release, they were led to carry false army uniforms, when they were not soldiers at the time of their abduction.
Earlier on Saturday, two other hostages – Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38 years old – were released in the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. Back in Israel, they were both taken to medical centers to be examined there.
“It’s an unforgettable moment, when all the emotions mix quickly. Our tal is with us, “said Shoham’s family in a statement, calling for an agreement to release all those who are still in captivity. “There is an opportunity window, we must not miss it.”
Mr. Shoham, who also owns Austrian nationality, visited his wife’s family in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas activists burst into the community during the attacks of October 7, 2023. The wife of Shoham, his Two young children and three other family members who had been kidnapped with him were released during an exchange in November 2023.
Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, had been detained in Gaza since he had entered on his own means in 2014. The family of Mengistu followed the delivery of the keys to the Israeli media and sang a song in Hebrew, “Here light ”, seeing it for the first time in more than ten years.
The sixth hostage which must be released later, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, entered Gaza in 2015 and has been held there since.
Liberation of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
More than 600 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel will be released as part of an exchange, the media office of Palestinian prisoners said on Friday. These are 50 perpetuity convicted, 60 sentenced to long sentences, 47 released as part of a previous exchange of hostages for prisoners and 445 Palestinians captured by Israeli troops in Gaza since the start of the war.
Hamas said that he would also release four other bodies next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire. If this plan is implemented, Hamas will retain sixty hostages, about half of which would still be alive.
Hamas said that it would not release other captives without a sustainable ceasefire and a total withdrawal from Israel. Netanyahu, with total support from the Trump administration, affirms that he is determined to destroy the military and governmental capacities of Hamas and to make all hostages, objectives largely considered to be mutually exclusive.
During the October 7 attack, 1,139 Israelis were killed : 695 civilians (including 38 children), 71 foreign nationals and 373 members of the security forces.
About 250 civilians and Israeli soldiers were taken hostage In the Gaza Strip, living or dead, including 30 children, with the aim of forcing Israel to exchange them for imprisoned Palestinians, including women and children.
Dozens of cases of rape and sexual assault would have taken place, but Hamas officials denied the involvement of their fighters.
The Israeli military offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestiniansmainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The offensive has destroyed large Gaza areas, reducing entire districts to the state of ruins. At the height of the war, 90 % of the Gaza population was moved. Many people returned home to find that there was nothing left and that there was no way to rebuild.